Dangerous Prayer [3]

We come to week 3 of our series on dangerous prayer. In week 1 we explored 'Break me', week 2 was ' Search me,' now, this is our final week, and we are looking at 'Send me.'

Isaiah 6:8:

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

 Whom shall I send? And who will go with us?

And I said ' Here am I. Send me!"

During our prayer life, we regularly pray to God for others. Even though prayer requests vary, we ask God to help us, help someone we love or we pray God, please do something for us.

We should definitely pray this way, we should always invite God's presence, God's power and God's peace to intervene in our lives. We should ask God to do miracles on our behalf. We should lift up our loved ones and remind ourselves, of how God can move in their lives.

We should seek the Lord for all our needs. But, we shouldn't stop there!

What if we ask God what we can do for him?

What if we dare to ask God to use us on his behalf?

What if we surrendered our whole future to him, telling God we are all his, available and on call?

What if we prayed perhaps the most dangerous prayer of all?

'Send me Lord, use me.'

What would stop us praying this prayer?

We might think we are unqualified, inadequate or unprepared to do what God asks us to do. But God doesn't call perfect people, he simply wants people willing to be vessels, and he invites them to use their lives to make a difference for him.

If we look at 2 great biblical people who God sent to do his work, and how their responses differ when God sent them.

Jonah 1:2-3

"Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord."

God chose Jonah to go and preach to the sinful and rebellious people of Nineveh. Jonah had the power and the ability, but wasn't available! So told God 'No!' We all know what happened then!

So if we look at Moses response in:

Exodus 3:10-11

"So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

Moses had a different response to Jonah, he was buried under his own securities, he quickly told God all the reasons he wasn't the right person.

Don't we do this today?

When God calls us to serve, we may say:

 "I don't have time"

 "There are better people than me to do it"

 "I don't know enough, I am not talented enough!"

"Here I am Lord, but send someone else."

Asking God to send you is a dangerous prayer, because you don't know where He will send you. He may send you to do something opposite your plans and dreams, and that could be difficult.

When God sent people in the Bible, it always came at a cost. The prophets were ridiculed and mocked, the apostles were beaten and martyred and Jesus was crucified.

But when we pray for God to send us from a forgiven and surrendered heart, it's not out of obligation or guilt, it's a daring prayer of faith. It's the deep realisation that our lives are not our own, we belong to God, we are His servants, His ambassadors and His representatives on earth.

We will recognise that the same God who has forgiven us, has called us and chosen us. When we are surrendered to him, we will have eyes to see where he is working, a heart to feel what touches his heart, and hands to show his love.

We will see those people who need encouragement, or who have a need, and God will prompt us to meet that need.

We will see someone who is alone, anxious or depressed and we will show them God's love.

We are His servants, available, eager and ready to go.

So, say these dangerous prayers of search me, break me and send me and see how God transforms us through them, and wreck our lives, but in the right way!

 Are you up for the challenge?